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Not a good night, moon

A full moon rises besides the Space Needle on Monday July 22, 2013, in Seattle. | The Seattle Times

It’s that old devil moon.

When we have our next full moon on August 20, don’t be surprised if you have trouble sleeping … scientists report in Current Biology.

Although the study’s subjects could not see the moon from their beds, the BBC reported, they took longer to fall asleep and got 20 minutes less shut-eye during a full moon. The research team at Basel University in Switzerland found that the subjects’ brain activity during non-rapid-eye-movement, or deep sleep, dropped along with melatonin levels.

Dr. Neil Stanley, a British sleep expert, told the BBC that the study suggests that folk tales about the full moon contain “a germ of truth.”